Happy New Year

Just to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Sadly our trip is now virtually over, so we hope you have enjoyed following us around doing as little as possible for as long as has been affordable but right now living in a much bigger space than in our lovely teardrop (the Gin Palace).
Best Wishes
Fran & Claire

Thailand

Is there any one out there?

Hopefully a few, and just in case this is the story so far.
Arrived in Phuket Thailand on the 19 November and have been loving the sun shine, crystal clear waters, freindly happy people, clean food/accomadation and island hopping ever since. Having stayed on various islands we have decided to stay put on Koh Lanta for the time being and see if we and celebrate christmas with a turkey sunshine and some tinsel swimming.

Towards the End of India

Now on our last week in India and back in Arambol Goa,

We have hit hippy central, were some poor souls have missed the bus, which sadly adds to our entertainment with this whole area.

Found a cracking Korean restaurant were fellow Korean diners were only to happy to share their favorite dishes and sauces. We have also been frequenting an open mic bar that truly brought tears to our eyes for all the wrong reasons, is that the magic of India?
Here's a few more photos.

Deciding what to have for tea tonight?

 Fish or fish and rice

The holiest being in India (probably the only holy being in India)

The best fun for the cheapest price

The most expensive fun

Kerela, Kannor & Fort Cochin

Sorry about the link to the photos but for reasons unknown to man kind, except computer gicks, I cant get it to work.
Its been raining on and off for the last few days but luckily we are in Fort Cochin just mooching around the cafe's, reading and watching the world go by. Its an old colonial town with fantastic town houses converted into guest homes, so it feels quite different to our previous destinations (a lot cleaner and not quite as smelly).
Off to get a house bout tomorrow for a 24 hour trip around the mosquito infested swampy back waters of Kerela.

India Goa

Well hallo again,
After a couple of weeks being well feed and generally looked after at Nick and Terry in Cheltenham we flew to India and ended up on the beaches of Goa. Very chilled with plenty of cows roaming around also enjoying the beach and sun.
After 5 days we took the train to Hampi an ancient spiritual place full of temples etc.
At present we are back on the beach in Paloem where we're enjoying some greet food and a bit more general life activity.
Please follow link below if you wish to view hundreds of photos including a few video's.

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/francis.claire/Goa

Homeward Run

Having waved good bye to the 'Dispicables' we packed and left Umbria in the blazing sun and headed north towards the Alps and Switzerland. Crossing the boarder into Switzerland we were asked what exactly were we towing and what could possibly be inside the teardrop, bewildered looks and a couple of shakes of the head saw us through into new lands.

After staying the night at a motorway hotel we only had a short drive to Luzern where we'd decided to stay for a few nights. Once set up we headed into town for a few beers and a traditional Swiss fondue (and chips from around the world).

Not being known for our frugality's we splashed out mega Swiss francs to go on the 360 Tour. This started off with a boat trip around the lake.

Very steep train journey up the mountain.

11 Thousand feet high.

Bit of lunch and a drink (not included in price) but undoubtedly the best pumpkin soup in the world.

Then on the way back down a 15min trip in a very steep gondola.

Change into even steeper mini gondola for another 20 Min's.

Short walk and finally a tram back into Luzern.

And finished of a fantastic day with sun downers.

Never once felt out of breath, yoga for the enlightened.

On the road again the following day we stopped just out side Metz at a Formula One which was cheap and spooky. Calais was grey and grim as always but luckily we managed to sneak on an earlier crossing and got to my cousin Cathy's house in Dover earlier than expected where we were awaited by a lovely meat pie and chocolate brownies to die for. Thanks Cathy.
Saturday morning we set of again for the last car leg of the TeardropOutTour to Cheltenham and my folks, Nick and Tere, who had kindly agreed to put up with us for the following two weeks living in their house before we set off again, this time to India and Thailand.

Thanks for following but keep an eye out as we maybe posting more pictures and comments on the next leg which by rights should be called The DropOut Tour!
Cheers, Fran & Boo

Umbria Villa - 11th September - 22nd September

We were joined by Lucy, Harry and Nel for the final leg of the Italian tour.  The villa with the pool was booked and after some initial snags (the pool was green and full of unpleasantness and the house was decidedly unloved and on the grubby side of life!) we had a really lovely week.  Once the pool was crystal clear and the kitchen scrubbed to within an inch of its life we managed to relax and enjoy!

 
The week kicked off with a joint birthday party as Nel had her 3rd birthday in the air and Lucy and Boo, not to miss out, felt that their birthdays needed to be celebrated as well!

The Birthday Girls!

The week consisted of much feasting and drinking and braving of the pool which, although the weather was good, the water remained at Arctic temperatures.  The males of the party decided that jumping in was the only way to go where as Lu and Boo went for the slow submersion and numbing of each limb individually as their preferred method of entering the water.  Nel was the only one that had any sense and opted for ensuring our safety from the luxury of her speed boat/car/rescue vehicle!

Please observe Lu in the background going slowly through the numbing process!



Lilo Wars!

We had a few trips out to local towns but were mildly curtailed by the 3.5 km track leading up to the villa that consisted of gravel, rocks, hairpin bends and a gradient that would make your hair curl.

The weather was changeable and the thunderstorms were immense but enjoyable all the same.  We had a cracking week and it was the best way for us to end our Italian adventure. 

Nel doing a spot of whale riding!

Lake Bolsena - 6th - 11th September

Onwards and northwards!  We had 5 days to kill before a scheduled stop in Umbria, so from the Amalfi we headed up and landed at Lake Bolsena about 100 miles north of Rome.  The campsite was a blessed release from the 1000 pitch concerns we had been used to in the south as this one only had 34 pitches in total which was a real treat.  The town was really pretty and topped off by the obligatory castle straight out of the story books.

The campsite was right on the lake and although the weather was beginning to change we were able to enjoy some cracking sunsets, can't claim to have seen a sunrise though!

We did manage to do some site seeing and went to Orvieto for the day.  Another town on a hill and all looking very beautiful indeed.  Fran wanted to visit a well that apparently was a piece of fantastic roman architecture that warranted our admiration.

A bit cold, a bit damp and not to mention a bit smelly!

The weather gave us a few good thunderstorms to ensure that we knew that autumn was on its way.

Amalfi Coast - 28th August - 6th September

The Amalfi coast, holiday home of the Gods, according to Cesar.
He may have been right for the scenery was beautifully dramatic. Driving around puts Alton Towers to shame so when we could we took the bus or water taxi's/tours.

We camped amongst fig trees which were ripe to pluck and eat, delicious, kept meaning to cook them in rum but we ran out of gas so cooking was limited to one electric ring (thanks Jan).

One day was sent wandring around the streets of Pompei with our mobile guide phones which was great for skipping the boring bits but if you did want a bit of extra info it was at hand. The place was huge and well worth a visit.

Positano and Amalfi we visited by boat which also included the most ridiculous grotto trip where we were rowed around a cave while being sang to by the rower as he pointed to any rock that vaguely resembled the Madonna, that was quite a common theme as any object (and there were plenty) that could be called the Madonna and child were.
Sorrento was a disappointment but we met a lovely young couple at a bar who were drinking liter jugs of beer unfortunately we had to get the fun ride back to Porto Narao, a good 45min away.

After all these years and three mounths in a confined space it was good to know theres still a spark!

Palinuro - 23rd - 28th August

Finally managed to tear Fran away from the south and started to make our way slowly northwards for the first time in several months.  We headed for a place on the west coast called Palinuro which is on a peninsula below the Amalfi coast.  It was a bit of a gamble as we hadn't met anybody who had ever heard of it let alone been there but I had seen some really good stuff about it online and we took a punt.

The coastline was a cracker and not disappointing at all.  As no one we had met had ever heard of the place we thought we were going to be discovering a bit of Italy that was yet to be discovered by tourists.......now here are the pictures to prove otherwise....

Having said there were lots of people there it was still really enjoyable and great to be on such beautiful coast.  The snorkeling was excellent and we went on a bit of boat trip that took in a blue grotto that was definitely worth a look.  The picture is not too good but I think you might get the idea.

The campsite was a bit more upmarket than we had been used to and the pitch was a good one, we soon managed to get accustomed to the fact that we were pitched between the children's club and the nightclub of which both finished at 3 in the morning - its amazing how well you sleep after a couple of bottles of something good.  Thank goodness Fran made the teardrop with a double skin and insulation that acts as excellent sound proofing.

Yes, eating again!

Porto Sabari, Calabria - 14th August - 23rd August

Only a 200 kilometer drive to this campsite which made a nice change and meant we were back on the beach by 5pm. I should point out that we had set up home on the beach, what the Italians call PRIMERA FILLA which means prime position and would normally cost more.

Here we found what we had set out to achieve "To do as little as possible for as long as affordable" and thats exactly what we did NOTHING for 9 glorious days. Naturally things went on around us as it turned out to be a major bank holiday for the locals which they celebrated with an all day It's a Knock Out climaxing at 2 in the morning with a performance from the three teams of either Shrek, Romeo & Juliette or Alice in Wonderland.

Like the Dolan Dragon wall of fire the Shrek team had their own fire breathing dragon on a trailer (sorry Dan couldn't get any pictures for you).

I managed to get fireworks for Boo but sadly the Mariachi Band didn't show!

Very few people spoke English but we still managed to meet some lovely characters from Pedro Pescardore who still longed to move back to Panama, Pepe and his German wife who kept plying us with cheap sweet spumante, our unknown named neighbours of about 20 who would have fried fish (that they had caught that morning) ready for us to eat when we came off the beach for a bite of lunch.

As always the teardrop was a huge crowd puller to the point that we had to do that awful thing caravaners do and put up a barrier marking out our turf, that stopped about 50% of the flow, the rest just had no shame or awareness of personal space. All the same we do enjoy they attention and showing her of.

Porto Cesareo - August 7th - August 14th

From the delights of Camping Tellina we headed down, down, down to Porto Cesareo, into the heel of Itlay.

The Pitch!

Not much to report about the campsite itself  other than the facilities were an absoulute delight and were wonderous compared to our visit to Tellina. As it was a new site everything had 'whistles and bows' which made for a very enjoyable stay indeed.

Our biggest achievment during our visit to this area was that we managed to complete the drive of the whole length of Italy and visited the equivielent of their Landsend being Capo San Maria di Leuca.

                  'Landsend'









The other place of any note and a wholly pleasent surprise was visiting the town of Lecce, the biggest town in the south of Puglia.  It was a cracker and had a great atmosphere.  It was a little like Toteness on a far grander scale but none the less somewhere you could feel very much at home in.

Just an example of the architecture that was something to behold!

The only other things that remains to say about this area was that, for us, the water was some of the most beautiful we have seen anywhere in the world!